Kick vs Twitch: Which is Better for Pro Streamers?

Professional streamers are in a debate right now. Twitch is the giant of the streaming world that has been dominant in the industry for years, but Kick is a relatively new player on the scene that is making big waves in the industry.

With all the attention the platform is getting, it begs the question: Which platform is better for pro streamers? Is Twitch the old reliable platform that won’t ever let us down, or is Kick offering something that Twitch is lacking?

All of these questions, and more, will be answered in this article. We’re going to dive into the great Twitch vs. Kick debate and get to the bottom of which platform is better. So without further ado, here’s what we’ve found in our research of both of these live-streaming platforms.

What Is Twitch?

When people think of live-streaming, whether it’s for gaming or something else, you think about Twitch. The platform was started in 2011 and has been the defining platform of a live-streaming culture for years.

Twitch has its main focus on gaming. Creators live-stream themselves playing games, and viewers can enjoy their skill at the game, their fun personalities, and anything unique about them. It’s a great platform that offers a mutually beneficial relationship between the platform and the creator.

Amazon Buys Twitch

Twitch made big moves in the tech world quickly, and in 2014 the platform was bought out by the tech giant Amazon for nearly $1 billion. For the most part, Twitch went unchanged for a while. Amazon had a pretty hands-off mindset when it came to Twitch.

The platform continued to grow rapidly and achieve a ton of success, prompting other big companies to get into the streaming game like YouTube and Microsoft.

Twitch CEO Steps Down

In 2022, the long-term CEO of Twitch decided to step down to spend more time with his newborn child. In the wake of this big change within the company, the new CEO laid off around 400 employees and made some other big changes in the company, two of which stuck out.

The first big change was tighter community guidelines, specifically around gambling. As of now, gambling content is banned on Twitch due to some cons and schemes that were run on the platform. Of course, after this, gambling content creators needed to find somewhere else to go.

The second and more significant change was that Twitch stopped offering the coveted 70-30 revenue split to top creators, opting for a 50-50 split instead. This upset Twitch's creators because it took away important funds that they needed to continue operating at the highest level.

Due to these huge changes, people began looking for other platforms to stream on. And one of the biggest competitors to Twitch in the aftermath is Kick.

What Is Kick?

Kick is a much younger company than Twitch. Kick only started in December 2022, and the company is backed by another company called Stake.com, an online casino that deals with cryptocurrency.

By and large, Kick functions just about the same as Twitch. Many people even call it a Twitch clone.

On the main page, you’ll see several featured streams for you to browse through. You’ll see a list of the streamers you follow or subscribe to on the side so you can easily check out their content. There are Kick equivalents to bits and cheers, as well as ads, so you can make money on Kick in all the same ways that you can on Twitch.

On top of that, many big names in streaming have changed over from Twitch to Kick, including GMHikaru, Amouranth, and even xQc. These creators in particular have drawn a ton of attention and traffic to Kick, making it a real contender in the field.

Why Has Kick Grown?

The big things that have attracted these creators to the platform have been Twitch's unpopular decisions just before Kick was launched. People didn’t prefer the tighter moderations and didn’t like the prospect of making less money on Twitch.

That brings us to Kick’s biggest allure. Kick offers creators a whopping 95% of their channels' revenue, leaving only 5% for the company itself. This means that creators stand to make twice as much money on Kick as they do on Twitch. This is especially appealing for the bigger creators with an audience that would follow them to Kick.

For Pro Streamers

Now that we know a little bit about the two companies and how they got to where they are today, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of which platform is better for pro streamers. The real question, of course, is whether you should switch to Kick from Twitch.

Related article: Twitch vs. YouTube for Streamers: Which Is Best?

Your Size and Following

If you’re a pro streamer, you need to ask yourself, “How big is my following, and will they follow me if I change platforms?” The higher revenue cut is definitely appealing, but it will all be for nothing if you can’t grow your audience on the new platform.

The good news for you is that not all your followers have to come with you. Even if only half of your subs come over from Twitch, you’ll still be making the same amount of money that you would have been on Twitch.

It’s important to remember that Twitch has FAR more viewers than Kick does. At any given moment, there are an average of 2.4 million viewers on Twitch. But on Kick, that number is only about 58,000.

For larger creators, it might still be worth it. You could be part of the force that drives more and more viewers to Kick. That said, it’s still a risk, so you must evaluate your own following and engagement to determine how much retention you would have if you made the switch. It might even be worth it to do a survey with your subs to ask if they would follow you.

For Other Streamers

The decision will look a little bit different for smaller streamers on Twitch. Once again, that sweet, sweet 95-5 split is enticing to anybody who’s trying to make a living streaming video games. But every situation is different, and the switch might not be right for everybody.

This switch would be incredibly scary for mid-size streamers who have been at it for a while and have a decent audience. If you’re still in the growth stage, it might not be the right move to put your follower/sub count at risk. Moving to a smaller platform could jeopardize your progress so far.

Once again, mid-size creators must evaluate whether their audience will follow them to a new platform. You might have a small tribe of super fans that will tag along with you wherever you go. If so, Kick might work for you.

Smaller or New Streamers

Now, there’s the question of small or new streamers. If you don’t have much of an audience or have never streamed before and are considering getting into it, Kick might be a really exciting option.

Kick is growing, and getting in on the ground floor of a new, thriving platform might be very beneficial. If you’re able to establish yourself as an important creator on the platform, that hold you have will only solidify as time goes on.

Of course, this is also a risk because Twitch has a larger audience than Kick, but it could still benefit you in the long run.

Tools To Help Along the Way

Whether you’re streaming on Kick or Twitch, you’re going to need to make an effort to put content out on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and IG Reels. Short-form videos are the majority of internet content we consume today, so it’s important to meet viewers on the platforms where they spend time so you can drive traffic to your Twitch or Kick.

If you’re struggling to make content to post on your socials, Powder can help. Powder is an incredibly powerful AI software that is trained to detect big moments in your stream and automatically make clips of them for you to post.

All you’ve got to do is upload your VOD to Powder as an mp4 file or just copy and paste in your Twitch or Kick link and the AI will get to work. If you choose Twitch, you can also just connect your Twitch account directly to Powder so your latest streams are waiting for you to pull clips from. Powder AI detects kills, victories, laughter, loudness in your mic, and more, making clips of all of it. And even offers keyword search so you can pinpoint the exact moment or conversation in your stream you want to pull a clip from.

Once Powder does its thing, you can choose between horizontal and vertical video formats and then save the videos to your drive ready for you to post. Powder will even make a compilation of clips at the touch of a button for you to post to your YouTube.

Making content has never been easier. Powder removes hours of work from your schedule so you have more time for the things that matter.

The Kick vs. Twitch Debate

Kick has the best revenue split, but Twitch has the audience and the history. Which is best? Only you can decide for yourself and your channel. But one thing is certain: Neither of these platforms is going anywhere any time soon, and you can successfully stream on both with hard work and a little bit of luck.

For more helpful information about streaming and tools that can help you along the way, check out our blog and see all that AI can do for your streaming career.

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